Photo: Alan Hughes · CC BY-SA 2.037% of households have dependent children, a share 96% of UK towns don’t reach
With a median age of 40.2, Cilfrew is younger than 79% of UK towns. Across Cilfrew, 23% of households are one person living alone. The village counted 2,178 residents and 858 households at the 2021 Census. Residents who describe themselves as White British make up 95%, against 90% across Wales’s towns.
What the Census says about Cilfrew’s people
A village of families
37% of Cilfrew’s 858 households had dependent children in 2021, more than in 96% of UK towns. 20% of residents are under 15. Households ↓
Many carers
279 residents gave unpaid care to someone with an illness, disability or old age in 2021, 13% of those 5 and over: more than in 99% of UK towns. Relationships & caring ↓
Written from the data on this page: ONS Census 2021 (output areas summed to the 2022 built-up area).
Only 16% of residents are 65 or over in Cilfrew
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
11% of residents are aged 15 to 24, against 12% across Wales’s towns. The wider picture: 21% of residents are 65 or over across Wales’s towns.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 96 men for every 100 women. Across Wales, 51% of residents are women.
More full-time students than 88% of UK towns: 6.4%
What adults did at the 2021 Census (the ONS’s NS-SEC classes), and where residents lived a year earlier.
Adults by occupation class · residents 16 and over
Address a year before the Census
Residents who lived somewhere else a year earlier. The bar runs to 25%.
Managerial and professional jobs account for nearly a third of Cilfrew’s adults, routine and semi-routine work for 25%, against 29% and 27% across Wales’s towns. By way of comparison, 8% of adults are full-time students across Wales’s towns. 7.2% of residents lived at another address a year earlier.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
Larger households than 92% of UK towns: 2.5 people on average
Household make-up at the 2021 Census. Each square is 1% of households.
Against West Glamorgan’s towns and Wales’s towns
People per household
Wales’s towns.
Shared households of unrelated adults: 2%, below 70% of UK towns.
More detached houses than 75% of UK towns: 40% of households
Accommodation type and cars or vans per household, Census 2021. Owning and renting are on Cost of living.
Type of home
Cars or vans · share of households
Compared with 29% across Wales’s towns, just over a fifth of households live in a terraced house here. The wider picture: nearly a quarter of households live in a detached house across Wales’s towns. On the census count, 7.7% of households live in a flat or apartment. Lower than in 64% of UK towns: 13% of households have no car or van.
Only 3.6% of Cilfrew’s residents were born outside the UK
Country of birth, year of arrival and main language, Census 2021.
Born outside the UK, by region · share of all residents; the bar runs to 10%
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
Residents whose main language is English: 98% here and 96% across Wales’s towns. Typically, 7.4% of residents were born outside the UK across Wales’s towns. By birthplace, the largest groups from abroad were born in EU countries (2.5%) and in the Middle East and Asia (0.6%).
Cilfrew’s residents: 12% speak Welsh
Welsh language skills, residents aged 3 and over, Census 2021.
Welsh language skills · residents aged 3 and over
261 residents, 12% of those aged 3 and over, said they can speak Welsh at the 2021 Census, against 16% across Welsh towns: more than in 55% of Welsh towns. Within West Glamorgan, Gwaun-Cae-Gurwen has the largest share, 49%.
Above 91% of UK towns: 49% of residents said they have no religion
How residents described themselves at the 2021 Census. Lines join the lowest and highest of the three figures.
Ethnic groups other than White British · all residents
White British, not charted: 95% of Cilfrew · West Glamorgan’s towns 90% · Wales’s towns 90%.
Religion · all residents
After White British, the largest groups are Other White (2.5%), Mixed or multiple (0.9%) and African (0.6%). 44% of residents describe themselves as Christian, a lower share than in 81% of UK towns. For residents with no religion, the comparison across Wales’s towns is 47%.
In Cilfrew, 13% of residents give unpaid care, more than in 99% of UK towns
Legal partnership status (residents 16 and over) and unpaid care (residents 5 and over), Census 2021.
Partnership status · residents 16 and over
Unpaid care given · share of residents 5 and over
34% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership; across Wales’s towns the figure is 38%. Across Wales’s towns, unpaid carers come to 10%. Heavy unpaid care, 50 hours a week or more, falls to 103 residents.
A degree-level qualification for 33% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
In Cilfrew, 33% of adults hold a degree-level qualification, against 31% across Wales’s towns, while 18% have no qualification at all (20%). A levels are as far as 17% have gone so far, many of them students midway to a degree.
No nearby town is as young as Cilfrew
Nearby built-up areas coloured by median age, Census 2021. Tap a town for its page.
Health, work and homes have their own pages
What this data can and can’t tell you
- The Census was taken in a lockdown, in term time. 21 March 2021 fell in term time, and students were asked to give their term-time address, so most were counted where they study. Some may have been living with family that day.
- “West Glamorgan’s towns” and “Wales’s towns” mean their built-up areas. Census comparisons pool every built-up area in West Glamorgan (or Wales), summed the same way as Cilfrew’s figures, so households in open countryside are left out.
- Small counts are blurred. The ONS adds small random changes to Census counts to protect privacy, so the same total differs a little between tables, and the shares of a small town can move by a point or two.
Questions about Cilfrew’s residents
What is the population of Cilfrew?
The 2021 Census counted 2,178 people in Cilfrew’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Cilfrew?
The median age was 40.2 at the 2021 Census. 11% of residents were 15 to 24 and 16% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Cilfrew?
95% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 90% across Wales’s towns and 90% across West Glamorgan’s towns. 3.6% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Cilfrew?
49% said they had no religion and 44% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.1% were Muslim and 6% didn’t answer.
Is Cilfrew good for families?
37% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 27% across Wales’s towns. Schools are on Cilfrew’s schools page.
How many people speak Welsh in Cilfrew?
261 residents aged 3 and over, 12%, said they can speak Welsh at the 2021 Census, against 16% across Welsh towns.
Sources: ONS Census 2021, output areas summed to the ONS 2022 built-up area (TS002, TS003, TS004, TS007A, TS008, TS015, TS017, TS019, TS021, TS029, TS030, TS039, TS044, TS045, TS062, TS067, TS032). All under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (ONS boundaries). Northern Ireland: Source: NISRA; contains Land & Property Services data and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland information, © Crown copyright, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Scotland: contains National Records of Scotland data, Registers of Scotland data and SEPA data, © Crown copyright / © SEPA 2025, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.